April Fools? The Age of Adaline
Wednesday, April 1, 2015 at 8:29AM Manuel here wishing you a happy April Fools! To get in the spirit, I considered running a number of fake-o actressy news this morning (did you hear that Nicole Kidman is finally in talks to star in that Star is Born remake with Bradley Cooper? can you believe Angela Lansbury and Julie Andrews have signed on to star in a road-trip film about two boozy estranged sisters? could it really be true that Meryl Streep is starring in a Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? reboot? Oh wait. That last one may not be a joke after all).
Instead, I figured we could talk about a film that pretty much looks like a joke:
It has to be, no? Watching the trailer I couldn't help thinking of Winter's Tale which from everything I've heard is laughable in all the wrong but oh so right ways. May The Age of Adaline follow suit? The tagline suggests that much:
"The world has changed this century. Adaline has not."
That is, of course, the plot of the film which features the beautiful Michael Huisman as Adaline's new lover whose father (Harrison Ford) may have been involved with Adaline back when he was younger... and she looked the same! Because she doesn't age, apparently? I have to admit I had a hard time getting through that trailer without smirking to myself and wondering "wait, really?" but perhaps I'm not in its demo. The film seems to be pitching itself to a Nicholas Sparks-watching crowd and so while I won't break it down YES/NO/MAYBE SO style, know that the presence of Ellen Burstyn (and the prospect of a shirtless Huisman) would be the only thing in the YES category.
But it really has the chance to be a new unintentional campy flick, no? Unless its self-seriousness proves to be too much. And so, on April Fools we're pressed to ask: is Blake Lively's career ever going to pivot away from a being a punchline?
Reader Comments (24)
is Blake Lively's career ever going to pivot away from a being a punchline?
God I hope not. One less vapid blonde tart no one has to bitch about in the running for an Oscar.
The cross-generational, ageless romance was also a plot point in "Xanadu", and that worked pretty well. Might as well steal from the best.
Is that why Harrison Ford crashed the plane? To have the same miracle happen to him?
Also, will Meryl and Goldie visit Adaline and try to warn her of the dangers od immortality?
Also no2, this is the second movie in which a Harrison Ford lover falls in the water while driving a car.
She has a car crash and gets struck by lighting ~at the same time~ and apparently that causes her to never age. Lucky it happened to somebody that looks like Blake Lively, I guess and not a pimply-faced teenager going through an awkward phase.
I am sure that all you need from this movie is the shirtless Michiel Huisman and you can see that right here; there I saved you money, you're welcome.
Bahh Dave S. I screamed a little when I read that..
I hadn't thought of Age of Adaline from the Nicholas-Sparks-demographic angle (saw it as a messy-looking drama- I clearly hadn't seen the trailer) but in those terms I'm not really mad at it! It's at least an attempt to spice up that subgenre, unless there is a carpentry-dabbling flannel-wearing farmer and a cancer-related plot twist buried in the screenplay.
...oh no, what if there IS?
3rtful: The weird thing, though, is she didn't start becoming a joke until the 2011-2012 area, with the releases of Green Lantern and Savages. She might have never been revered like a JLaw or anything, but she would have been one of those "oh, okay we'll keep them around" PYT's that show up in roles where they have no real bearing on the plot but still technically need to fill a space.
The Curious Case of Serena Van Der Woodsen? weird, is the audience that dumb that the trailer needs to explain everything? Maybe they get confused and think the movie is about a girl who like to change her hairstyle too much. Ellen Burstyn going to be typecast from now on as the lead's Daugther? I complained about recasting Daario Naharis but now I see the point
Michiel! Totally worth it regardless of movie quality.
Raise your hands if you think the wrong Gossip Girl star got the movie career. Leighton Meester is doing okay, but she had so much more going for her than Blake Lively...
This looks interesting and I think Blake has 'something' about her. Plus the presence of Ellen Burstyn makes me think this is likely better than is expected
@Glenn Dunks. LOLOLOLOLOLOL
@ Glenn: LOL This is the stuff April Fools pranks are made of! Who decided to turn a discarded Onion headline into a dramatic film!?
I wonder, though. Is she really a joke to everyone, or just movie-lovers? I wonder how the rest of America think of her, like those who read People magazine or who just generally a) don't really follow movies/culture that much or b) care more about celebrities' personal lives than their professional choices.
Well, she did look good with here legs in the air being fucked by everyone (while keeping her boobs covered) in Savages so there is some worth.
And Huisman can been seen in (almost) all his glory in the 4th season of Game of Thrones.
@JA - doing the lord's work.
That trailer. THE SCORE!!! Like a Strauss tone poem on acid. I wonder if the Highlander people are involved?
At the risk of being booed, I have to say that Blake Lively was not a joke in The Town. She may not have been best in show, but I wasn't laughing at her performance.
Ooh, a hair movie, where Lively's hairdo must change in every time period so we know when we are.
This looks fabulously overwrought (that score!) and quite possibly a camp classic. Despite having no previous interest in Lively, I'm in.
cash: I've already said I'd agree more with that. It's really Green Lantern and Savages that caused the shift in priorities and the bottomed out reputation, even if she'll never get a Kidman/Cotillard reputation.
I liked Blake in THE TOWN and thought her stoned line readings were perfect for SAVAGES (a movie I loved) -- and I think this looks like it could be entertaining. There's no accounting, etc., etc., etc.
It looks like a ripoff of "Benjamin Button"
I remember seeing the trailer and found myself laughing. The voiceover made it even more hilarious. Lively can't act for shit.
As a Gossip Girl/The Town/Savages fan, I have to say I had a lot of hope for Lively (though I agree with Suzanne that Leighton Meester is the more talented actress). I kinda stopped caring about her career after she went the GOOP route and I'm really annoyed by the media's constant attempts to turn her and Ryan Reynolds into the new "Brangelina" (um...no).
As for the movie, maybe I'm becoming less of a cynic, but it doesn't look as laughably bad to me - just forgettable. I don't know if I'd rush out to see it before it hits DVD, but I'd watch it and I definitely don't fall into the Nicholas Sparks demo.